Telecommunications group Veon, the main owner of Kazakh operator Beeline, intends to enter the traditional banking services market. By the end of 2027, the company plans to launch its own digital bank in Kazakhstan and compete directly with the country’s largest financial groups.
Banking ambitions and license
Bloomberg reported the plans to create the bank, citing the group’s CEO Kaan Terzioglu. According to him, Veon has set an ambitious goal to take first or second place in the country’s financial services sector. The report did not specify a timeline for achieving this goal.
For the digital bank to operate fully and accept customer deposits, Veon plans to expand its current license. Separately, in September 2026, Veon and KaR-Tel LLP (the Beeline brand) signed a memorandum of cooperation with the National Bank of Kazakhstan. The five-year document involves exploring a first-category payment organization license and integrating the company’s digital payment services into the national payment infrastructure.
OLX acquisition and ecosystem development
Competition in Kazakhstan’s financial market has intensified significantly in recent years. Local banks are actively moving beyond traditional lending to build broad non-financial ecosystems, offering customers lifestyle services, marketplaces, and government services. According to Bloomberg, the Kaspi.kz app alone has more than 16 million monthly users, out of a total population of about 21 million.
In this competitive struggle, Veon is betting on combining its telecom audience with classifieds services. On Friday, November 6, 2026, the company announced the closing of a deal to acquire the Kazakh division of OLX Group for $81 million. The parties agreed on the deal back in October 2025, and it has now received all necessary regulatory approvals.
OLX KZ has a monthly audience of about 9 million active users. Using this platform, Veon plans to replicate the digital ecosystem model the group previously built in the Ukrainian market. There, users have access to a wide variety of non-financial services, including taxi booking and medicine search.
Integrating OLX significantly expands Beeline’s ability to offer additional services and sets the stage for direct competition not only with Kaspi.kz but also with Yandex taxi services. “I think we can add a lot of value to this highly competitive market. OLX significantly expands our capabilities,” Terzioglu noted.
Strategic market importance
Kazakhstan is the third most important market for Dubai-headquartered Veon Group. The republic accounts for about 18% of the telecommunications holding’s total revenue. For comparison, Veon generates approximately 66% of its revenue from operations in Pakistan and Ukraine, according to the company’s latest financial statements.
Beeline already has experience developing financial products in the Kazakh market. Finteqstan previously reported that the Simply payment service will close its standalone app and move to Janymda, the mobile operator’s superapp. Now, the group’s ambitions go beyond a payment service and involve creating a full-fledged banking structure with the right to attract deposits.
In addition to its development in Kazakhstan, Veon continues to invest in its other key markets. In Ukraine, the holding plans to invest in energy and data centers. Earlier, the group’s subsidiary Kyivstar announced plans to buy local cloud infrastructure provider GigaCloud for up to $50 million.
